Help the Littlest Bengals Bloom

It’s 8:30 a.m. and children are arriving for preschool with eager smiles and tiny backpacks. Parents offer quick hugs and wipe their children's fingers, still sticky with the morning’s breakfast. Some of these preschoolers are from Bloomfield. Some are from Montclair. And there is a big difference between the two. The preschoolers from Montclair are receiving their high-quality preschool education for free. And, across the hall, in the very same building, the children from Bloomfield are paying tuition.

Across Essex County, the scene is not uncommon. Belleville, Montclair, Nutley, South Orange, Maplewood, and West Orange all receive state funding that allows them to offer free full-day preschool, often housed at local childcare centers, to residents. Bloomfield’s children do not receive the same important early educational support for one simple reason- these other communities applied for State preschool funding, while Bloomfield did not.

Since 2018, the State of New Jersey has heavily invested in preschool expansion through a grant program called Preschool Expansion Aid. Communities that applied for and received this funding have been able to offer an expanded number of free preschool seats for local residents, and increase the number of free seats with each passing year.

Preschool Expansion Aid has supported Essex County communities in growing preschool options in a variety of ways:

• Belleville: Preschool Expansion Aid enabled Belleville open a five classroom preschool facility called the Hornblower Early Childhood Center that offers Belleville residents full-day, free preschool.
• Montclair: Montclair is using Preschool Expansion Aid to partner with five community providers to offer free full-day preschool, and to expand free preschool seats at four district locations. This aid expands Montclair’s total free preschool classrooms to 29.
• Nutley: In 2022, Nutley began the preschool expansion process with a 1.2 million dollar award from the NJ Preschool Expansion Aid program. After a failed construction referendum left them with limited space, Nutley quickly leased private office space to free up space for its preschool program. The quick action paid off and Nutley now receives over four million dollars in aid.
• South Orange-Maplewood: In 2018, South Orange-Maplewood became one of the first districts to receive Preschool Expansion Aid, for a total award of $1,422,081. This early action in applying for an award means that their community now receives almost seven million dollars in grant funding.
• West Orange: West Orange received initial funding in 2024 of 1.5 million dollars for a very aggressive preschool expansion program, and in the most recent State budget, they have now been allocated over nine million dollars. Their website provides details of the extensive community partnerships with childcare providers that have allowed them to expand so quickly. West Orange also applied for and received funding to expand its preschool facilities and received approximately 1.5 million additional dollars to improve preschool buildings.

Despite some challenges, local communities have committed to leveraging state funding to expand preschool because preschool’s benefits for children are well-known.

Free preschool in Bloomfield would increase readiness for kindergarten, support educational equality, and help preschoolers with social and physical development. Additionally, expanding free, full-time preschool options can save Bloomfield families money, and make Bloomfield an attractive place to live for young families.

The State of New Jersey is expected to offer $10 million in funding for new communities to apply for Preschool Expansion Aid in June 2025, supporting the expansion of free, full-time preschool seats in the upcoming 2025-2026 school year. It is not too late for Bloomfield to commit to expanding preschool options for Bloomfield families. The time is now for Bloomfield to apply for Preschool Expansion Aid, and help our littlest Bengals bloom.

Author note: The author is part of an unaffiliated parent advocacy group, “Bloomfield for Preschool Expansion.” On April 7, the group is hosting an action-oriented meeting at the Bloomfield Public Library at 6:30 p.m. for community members interested in encouraging Bloomfield to expand options for free preschool.